No Surrender

by Ai .

A disillusioned Irish nun moves to America, meets Elvis, and rediscovers her faith. An amputee goes on a strange journey during a hurricane. Each of the speakers in Ai's daring new collection has a uniquely American story to tell, and each is told with the poet's characteristic dark humor and ambition.’

From "Brotherhood"

Now we're middle aged,

Bearing the curse, not the luck of the Irish,

On our shoulders like crosses.

We know that loss is just the outcome of living,

The dross that's left after you turn gold back into iron

And end up in Rio with a mulatta, who's got a habit,

But he doesn't care. He's flying blind

And I am right behind him.

Genres: Poetry

144 pages, Hardcover

First published September 27, 2010

About the author

Ai Ogawa (born Florence Anthony) was an American poet who who described herself as 1/2 Japanese, 1/8 Choctaw-Chickasaw, 1/4 Black, 1/16 Irish and as well as Southern Cheyenne and Comanche. She is known for her mastery of the dramatic monologue as a poetic form, as well as for taking on dark, controversial topics in her work. While her poems often contain sex, violence, and other subjects for which she received criticism, she stated during a 1978 interview that she did not view her use of them as gratuitous. About the poems in her first collection, Cruelty, she said: "I wanted people to see how they treated each other and themselves." In 1999 she won the National Book Award for Poetry for Vice: New and Selected Poems.

Reviews

[Peycho Kanev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finnegan Awake

Am I daft? I wonder as I shake myself awake from a dream
In which I’ve seen a photograph of James Joyce’s family,
At least that’s what the faint handwriting
On the white border claimed
But as my eyes traveled up from there,
I was puzzled to see only darkness
Where I thought I would find the kind of portrait
Popular at the time, from which people stared gravely,
As if daring the photographer
To capture what was only a small glimpse
Of the bitter fruit we call kinship.
Perhaps there was no mystery after all
And I’d been sent a message from beyond by Joyce himself
To help me learn what he knew all too well.
Family is heaven and it’s hell so entwined
You cannot tell one from the other,
But must dwell forever in the dark eternity between the two.
Yet, I knew that wasn’t quite what he had in mind.
I imagined it was because my surname’s Finnegan,
But then again what difference does that make,
I wonder, wishing I could divine my dream runes like some
Druid
Who knew it would do no good
To unmask what should stay hidden,
To “develop” the negative.
Better to take a sedative as I do
And sink into a deeper kind of sleep
And not dream, not finally understand the “meaning” of things,
Which after all are meaningless
Outside the context of life, death, sex and the rest of it.
Yet, as I wake a bit hungover, late for work
And hearing my helpmate, child and Rover
Beginning to take their places
At the breakfast table and beside it, I’m glad I failed
At my attempt at divination
And lived to tell the tale.
When I go to breakfast, my girl, Maggie, tells me
She’s got something to show me.
It’s her latest watercolor which lies upon my plate,
But all I see is a large black square of paint,
So I ask, “What is it then?”
She answers, “Jonah swallowing the whale,
Or it’s you setting sail for Panama in a gale.
Aw, it’s silly.”
But I say, “No, it’s our lives reduced to ashes.”
When she asks, “How do you know?”
I say, “A great Irish writer told me so.”

[Kasandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know Ai's chosen form was the monologue when I picked this up; had only heard her work was dark and often violent. These weren't at all what I'd expected, and I found the book a mixed bag: I loved some stories and voices, and was left flat by many others. In some cases, I heard a genuine persona, and in others, the same writerly voice repeatedly, which felt like reportage and not poetry. Really enjoyed "The Inheritance", "Widowhood", "Brotherhood" (Billy Bulger!), and "The Strange Journey of Ulysses Paradeece After a Hurricane" (wow).

[chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

He said, "Do you believe in Jesus?"
And I said, "Occasionally."
-- "The Strange Journey of Ulysses Paradeece After a Hurricane"

---

My biggest problem with Ai's later works is that she adopted this repetitive, overly-long narrative style, and most of her poems felt like they could be chopped in half. Most of the poems in this book follow this style, and it got pretty boring.

[Darryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the last collection of poems by this award winning poet of mixed descent (African-American, Japanese-American, Native American), who died this spring, which consists of narrative poems about people from various backgrounds struggling to survive against difficult odds: a second generation Irish Catholic woman in post-World War II faces ostracization from her family and community after getting pregnant out of wedlock; a widow must cope with her husband's sudden death from the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland; a scholar from New Delhi immigrates to the U.S. illegally and scraps to make ends meet as a taxi driver. Each poem in itself is powerful, but as a whole the collection contained too much pain and despair for me to enjoy this work.

[Andrea Blythe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous collection of poetry, which presents narrative style monologues from the point of view of a variety of people, men and women of different stations. One series of poems looks at the lives of Irish settlers, and others look at the lives Japanese or other heritages. Almost all are underscored with subtle subversive discussion, while being vivid and detailed portrayals. Most of these poems are fairly easy reads (while still being intelligent and evocative) and I would recommend them for those who don't often read poetry.

[cowgirl sushi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Ai: One of the few women of color who have been awarded the National Book Award for poetry. Her poetry is moving, straightforward, and accessible. I love the conversational tone, the depth of emotion laid out so bravely on the page. For anyone who does not understand or think they can understand poetry, they should try Ai (Japanese for "love"). This book really helped me define punctuation and form for one of my poems. The way she writes poetry feels so comfortable to me. I'm going to buy her complete works.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sad to read that Ai had passed away in March. Met her at a writer's community group over 30 years ago, a beautiful woman who encouraged us as a published writer even though only a few years separated us. Hadn't read her poetry since that last meeting but finding it again in this book, the last of hers to be published.

[Queer · Rating 5 out of 5]

You either appreciate Ai's distinctive narrative form or you don't. This is one of her best and most shocking collections of poetry. I appreciated all of the stories of struggle and am happy to see that even as she was dying she approached it with such strength. She passed too soon. She will always be a source of inspiration for me.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A random book of poems that I picked up at the library. Some of them were pretty difficult to read because Ai certainly has a way of expressing the emotion that resonated with me. The poem that I will remember the most is "Discipline".

[Tanius · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful, lucid, and commanding poetry. There's a sense of plain-speak about her work that makes reading her poetry accessible. Her subject matter and material feels like a folksy slap after every other line.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a mesmerizing book of poetry... It was actually more like a book of short stories. The writing is stark and harsh with a beautifully hypnotic quality to it. I loved this, she was an absolutely amazing writer!

[Kelsey Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 STARS.
These were a little hit and miss for my personal taste. Even though a lot of it wasn't my favorite style, I can see how expertly she weaves her stories together.
Violation packed a punch.
I skipped one altogether because it felt like work to read.

I'd still say she's wonderful though.

[Liam Malone · Rating 5 out of 5]

These were short story poems at their best. The longer pieces so descriptive and the characters defined well. This is one to share with people. Maybe give as a Christmas gift.

[Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last book of poems by Ai who died in 2010 is sober and enlightening collestion of poems by people who are also often vicitms,

[Paul]

Review at asianamlitfans.

[Shakira · Rating 5 out of 5]

always enjoyable, but seemed awkward at times with the way the poem were situated